


I See Dead People (No, Really)

by LovelyLittleNothing



Series: AUs someone asked for [1]
Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Brief mention of mental illness, M/M, Seer!Ryan, angst for like a split second bc im incapable of writing pure fluff, brief and I mean BRIEF mentions of violence, worried Shane
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-25 21:10:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15649005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LovelyLittleNothing/pseuds/LovelyLittleNothing
Summary: It starts out small.Having worked with Ryan as long as Shane had, he’s pretty confident in his arsenal of Useless Ryan Trivia. He knows Ryan likes to work out when he’s stressed, knows his favorite brand of popcorn is the fancy one that had to be made on a stove instead of in the microwave and knows that he has the tendency to talk to himself. Like a lot. So when he wakes up in the middle of the night to Ryan softly mumbling he thinks nothing of it at first.---prompt: shane finding out that ryan is a seer who can see ghosts, but shane doesn't believe him at first but he eventually does? Or the Seer!Ryan au in which Ryan sees dead people, Shane sees the beginnings of a descent into madness, and they both see the importance of communicating.





	I See Dead People (No, Really)

It starts out small. 

 

Having worked with Ryan as long as Shane had, he’s pretty confident in his arsenal of Useless Ryan Trivia. He knows Ryan likes to work out when he’s stressed, knows his favorite brand of popcorn is the fancy one that had to be made on a stove instead of in the microwave and knows that he has the tendency to talk to himself. Like a lot. So when he wakes up in the middle of the night to Ryan softly mumbling he thinks nothing of it at first. 

 

They’d just gotten back from a location, a small house out in the middle of West Bumblefuck, Missouri where a man had snapped one day and killed his wife and children as they slept. A sad case but not Satanic as Ryan had been so quick to claim.

 

The investigation had been relatively uneventful aside from the usual nonsense EVPs they had captured on the Screeching Hell Box but Ryan had still returned to their shared hotel room keyed up and twitchy. 

 

He kept casting furtive glances to dark corners of their room and looking over his shoulder, probably thinking himself inconspicuous but which Shane picked up on right away. He tried not to tease Ryan too much, knowing how affected he could get after their investigations, yet the pull was too strong to resist entirely. 

 

“You okay, man? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Shane said, giving him what could only be described as a shiteating grin. 

 

“Fuck off, squatch. That place just gave me some bad vibes, y’know?”

 

“Again with the vibes? What are you, psychic now or something?”

 

Shane scoffed and Ryan laughed along mechanically. 

 

“Oh come on, Ryan. We’re fine. If the ghouls were really that upset they would’ve squared up to me ages ago. Given me the ol’ one two.” He nudged Ryan slightly and smiled when he seemed to loosen up a bit. 

 

“You’re right, who could pass up the chance to knock your limp noodle body around.  _ I  _ can barely suppress the urge.”

 

“Aw, Ryan. I’m touched. If you wanted to get your hands on me you could’ve just asked.”

 

Ryan snorted. 

 

“You wish.”

 

Mood lightened, Ryan seemed fine to go to sleep.  _ Seemed _ being the keyword as Ryan was once again awake and probably telling his camera all about the spooky sound of footsteps in a well inhabited place.  _ Ooooo.  _

 

Shane listened closely, too exhausted to get up just yet if Ryan was at a manageable level of fear and would be able to calm himself down without Shanes’ help. 

 

“You’ll be okay. Everything's alright.”

 

There. Ryan was talking himself down and didn’t actually sound at all upset. Shane let himself relax and almost immediately felt himself falling back asleep. 

 

“Hey, no buddy. Please don’t cry. You’re alright. Go back home, your mom’s probably looking for you right now.”

 

_ What? _ Shanes brows furrowed and he was fully awake once more. 

 

“It’s okay. He won’t be there. He’s gone, I promise. Please, buddy? For me? You don’t want your mom to be sad do you?” 

 

Ryan paused as if waiting for a response and Shane strained his ears, too. Maybe he was on the phone? Or talking in his sleep? But there was no light piercing through the dark of their room and for as long as Shane had known him Ryan had never once talked in his sleep. So what was going on?

 

Across the room from him, Ryan laughed, light and airy. 

 

“That’s what I thought. Now go on. You’ll be alright. Goodbye, little guy!”

 

Shane laid quietly in his bed, waiting for the other shoe to drop, for Ryan to yell “sike!” and spin his camera around for his reaction. All he heard, however, was Ryan heaving a deep sigh before shifting around to get more comfortable. 

 

When nothing more happened, Shane finally allowed his confusion to succumb to his exhaustion and drifted off, promising himself to confront Ryan about it in the morning. 

 

——

“Hey, little guy how’d you sleep last night. You look, quite frankly, like shit.”

 

“Damn, Madej. You really know how to sweet talk a guy. Should I strip now or later?” Ryan deadpanned. 

 

“Any excuse to lose the shirt, huh? But really, you look tired. Are you alright?” Shane asked, subtly trying to get closure for last night's events. 

 

“It was alright. Had a little trouble sleeping, though. Kept thinking about the case. You really have to be a shitty person to do that to your family, huh?”

 

“Oh for sure. You gotta hop right onto the train to Sucksville for that. No transfers, nothin’. Just straight on to Sucksville, population: That Guy.”

 

“‘Population: That Guy’ Jesus. You really don’t even remember his name? We just talked about it yesterday!”

 

“Ryan, if I could remember the name of every shitty murderer to ever exist then I wouldn’t working be at Buzzfeed.”

 

“Oh yeah? Then where would you be?”

 

“Killin’ it on some super niche game show about killers from the middle of nowhere, obviously Ryan. Keep up!”

 

Ryan laughs, bright and loud and Shane feels his own face morph into a smile of its own. 

 

In the end they get too distracted thinking up disturbing names for Shane’s imaginary game show for him to bring up Ryan’s night once more. 

 

——

Eventually, Shane pushes that night to the back of his mind, rationalizing it as sleep talking and leaving it at that. There’s not much else to explain it away with and Shane’s pretty content with his answer. 

 

Shane, however, doesn’t completely  _ forget _ about the incident. He finds himself paying closer attention to Ryan than before, something he previously thought impossible. 

 

He drags his eyes over him at every possible opportunity, strains his ears to scan for his voice and spends way to much time thinking over their interactions. 

 

If Shane didn’t know any better he’d say he’d developed a crush on Ryan. But that was dumb because he was a grown man and that was his best friend. He was simply... researching, compiling notes like he would for an episode of Ruining History. Delving in deep to get all the right facts and throw out the bullshit would take an attentive eye, of course. 

 

And through his observations Shane had made several slightly worrying discoveries. 

 

Ryan was talking to himself more, for one. Normally, Shane could blame it on the stress from the pressure of planning out a new season but Ryan’s research was going off without a hitch. Plus, it was almost never at work or at his desk. 

 

Sometimes, Shane and Ryan would be scouting out a location and the second Ryan believed Shane was out of earshot he would start muttering under his breath, gesturing and looking over his shoulder as if afraid to get caught. 

 

Ryan, he noticed, also refused to stare at one place for too long. He would either focus all his attention on Shane or his eyes would dart around whatever room they were in, never settling, as if avoiding eye contact. At first Shane had written it off as a result of Ryan’s nervous energy and inability to hold still and then after coming to terms with his  _ feelings _ for Ryan he had hoped it meant that maybe Ryan felt the same way. But Shane decided that, no, something about it felt off. 

 

Maybe it was the way Ryan would almost seem fearful about taking his eyes away from someone else’s face. Or maybe it was the times that his gaze would catch on something, eyes sparking with something akin to recognition and sadness before they would quickly scurry to the next spot. Shane wasn’t quite sure but it worried him. 

 

The final straw was after yet another shoot at a haunted location. This time a young girl, Ciara Fisher, had died in a house fire and was said to haunt the place, crying at night and clawing at the doors in an attempt to escape the fire she still experienced each night. 

 

Shane had woken in the middle of the night to use the bathroom only to experience fear gripping his chest as he saw Ryan’s empty sleeping bag beside him. 

 

He got up in a hurry, switching on his flashlight and creeping across the house quietly in search for his partner. 

 

“Ryan?” He called out in a hushed, panicked voice. “Where are you?” No response. 

 

Worried, Shane continued his search. Faintly, he thought he heard whispering coming from down the hall, the site where Ryan had said the little girl had been trapped. When he turned the corner he saw her bedroom door wide open with a faint light emitting from it. 

 

Quietly, Shane approached the room, keeping his footsteps light in case it wasn’t Ryan and instead some intruder who wanted to hurt them. 

 

As he got closer, however, Shane was able to easily make out Ryan’s voice in the silent room. 

 

“Wow, you tied that bow  _ all  _ by yourself? I’m impressed!” A pause. “Of course I’ll miss you, sweetie, but don’t you think your parents miss you more?”

 

Shane peeked in and saw Ryan seated on the ground, body turned slightly to face a corner of the room. He could just barely make out Ryan’s soft smile in the dim moonlight streaming through the grimy window. 

 

“I won’t forget you, I promise. How could I ever forget meeting a real life princess! Oh, a fairy princess? My bad, your majesty! Oh, no no come on sweetie. No more crying. No need to be sad, I’ll see you again one day. That’s more like it. Goodbye Princess Ciara.”

—-

 

Oh. Oh  _ shit.  _ Ryan thought. That he was talking. To ghosts.  _ Oh shit.  _

 

That was not good. At all. On no planet was this okay. He had to talk to him, had to get him some help. He couldn’t- wouldn’t - let some show on Youtube irreversibly fuck with his best friends’ psyche like that. 

 

Shane backed out of the room and all but ran for his sleeping bag. When they got back from this trip they were gonna have a nice, loooong talk. 

 

—-

“Ryan, we need to talk.”

 

“Uh oh, are you breaking up with me, Shane?” Shane remained straight faced even as his stomach fluttered stupidly at the implication that he and Ryan were dating. 

 

“I’m serious Ryan. I- I think you need to stop doing Unsolved.”

 

“Very funny, Shane. Let me just grow another 2 feet in my sleep while I’m at it.” Ryan rolled his eyes, before turning back to the tv, popcorn in hand. 

 

Shane grabbed the remote and muted the movie, determined to have this talk despite Ryan’s complaints. 

 

“Ryan, I really think you need to take a break from Unsolved. I know its your baby but seriously, mental health comes first.”

 

“Mental health- what does that even mean? Sure, I get scared sometimes but so what? It’s not like I’m about to suffer from a psychic break or something…” Ryan trailed off, eyes narrowing, “holy shit do you think I’ve finally, like, snapped or something? What the fuck, man!”

 

“Ryan, it’s just that…”

 

“No, fuck you, man. I don’t think, like, the Devil’s been whispering in my ear, telling me to clickbait articles to get extra ad revenue or whatever. I’m fi-“

 

“I heard you talking to the little girl, Ryan! And the boy in Missouri. And you’ve been acting weird and skittish and I just- I just want you to get better. I need you to be okay.”

 

Shane’s voice was breaking now, trailing off as the thought of Ryan not getting the help he needed hit him full force. Ryan lost the anger he initially felt, softening at the sight of Shane wilting in front of him.

 

“Shane I’m not- I can’t,” He took a deep breath before composing himself, wincing at the thought of what he was about to say, “I appreciate your concern but I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

 

“What?” Shane’s head shot up in surprise, “what do you mean?”

 

“I mean, I have no clue what you’re talking about Shane. You know I would never talk to a ghost or some shit like that. Maybe… maybe you’re the one who needs help right now. Or maybe you dreamt it?”

 

“Really? Are you really doing this to me, Ryan?”

 

“Doing what, Shane. I’m just saying you don’t seem to have been sleeping well either-“

 

“That’s because I’ve been up all night worrying about you! Because you’re talking to people who aren’t there! And I’m worried about you but if you’re gonna stand there and- and fucken gaslight me then fine! I’ll quit Unsolved and you won’t have to worry about lying to me anymore.”

 

Shane turned to leave, anger and disbelief clouding his judgement. He was halfway to the door of Ryan’s apartment when he felt a strong hand on his forearm. 

 

“Wait, please don’t go. I’m sorry that I lied to you like that. I’m just...scared. I don’t know how to talk about this.”

 

“Ryan. I’m your best friend. You should never be ashamed to talk about your mental health.”

 

“That’s just the problem, Shane,” he whispered, “it has nothing to do with my mental health. I’m a Seer. I can see ghosts.”

 

Shane’s heart broke. 

 

“No, stop it, Shane. Stop making that face. I’m not, I don’t know, schizophrenic or something. Trust me I’ve been to my fair share of doctors to make sure I’m not making this up to know.”

 

“Ryan, you can’t- I mean. That’s not- ghosts aren’t  _ real.  _ You have to understand that. Maybe it’s something you didn’t have checked, like-“

 

“I knew it. You don’t believe me. God, I’m so stupid.” He started cleaning the room, sweeping stray popcorn into the bowls and shutting off the tv. 

 

“I think it’s best if you go home.”

 

“Ryan, that’s not fair. I’m just trying to help you.”

 

“Well, if your idea of help is trying to get me committed then I don’t want it!”

 

“How do you think I feel? The person I’m in love with is losing his goddamn mind and he won’t even consider getting help!”

 

Pause. 

 

“You’re in love with me?”

 

“That's not- I didn’t. Fuck.”

 

Ryan smiled softly, heart soaring. 

 

“You’re in love with me!” Ryan was beaming before he took a deep breath, trying to compose himself.

 

“Okay, let me try something. Let me prove it to you.”

 

“What? How? How could you possibly prove it to me? It’s not  _ real. _ ”

 

“You’re grandma loves you a lot, y’know?” Ryan started, apropos of nothing, “She thinks you’re real funny, Lord knows why.”

 

“Don’t.”

 

“She’s really sweet. She likes to hang around the set and watch you do your thing sometimes. Says she’s waiting for you to get your head out your ass.  Never knew what she meant by that but I think I can guess now.”

 

“Ryan, this isn’t funny. This is fucked up, man.”

 

“Shane, please. I’m not trying to hurt you,” he was more solemn now, less light hearted and more serious, handling it with the respect he felt they both deserved. 

 

“She always wanted me to tell you she’s so sorry for missing your school concerts but she loved when you would come to her hospital room and show her videos of you playing and tell her funny stories. I kept telling her I couldn’t, that you wouldn’t believe me, but she wanted you to know so badly how much she loves you.”

 

Shane’s crying now, shoulders shaking in silent sobs and Ryan wants to move closer, to comfort him, but he isn’t sure he’s allowed. 

 

“She loves you so much, Shane. Her mała gwiazda _.” _

 

Shane launches himself into Ryan’s arms and then they’re both crying, intertwining themselves so closely they’re almost one being. 

 

“ _ What the fuck, Ryan?  _ I mean, what the  _ fuck?” _

 

_ “ _ I know, it’s a lot to take in. I’m sorry.”

 

Eventually, they calm down, exhausted from the crying and the revelations. They move to lie more comfortably on the couch, Ryan lying on his side and Shane wrapped around him like a particularly clingy octopus. 

 

“Mała gwiazda,” Shane says, breaking the silence, “it means  _ little star _ in Polish. She used to call me that during the visits. It’s the only Polish I really remember now.”

 

Ryan just smiles at him softly, burrowing closer to his chest. 

 

“So,” Shane says, “any other earth shattering secrets you wanna come clean with. You got abducted by a UFO recently? Getting frisky with our boy, the Mothman?”

 

Ryan laughs but gets quiet, turning to face Shane head on. 

 

“Actually, yeah. Just one more.”

 

“Oh?” Shane hums, lifting a brow. “Hit me, baby!”

 

Ryan rolls his eyes fondly but keeps looking Shane in the eyes as he wraps his arms around him, resting his hands behind his neck to play with the short strands of hair there. Shane’s heart stutters and nothing, he thinks, could ever top this moment. 

 

“I’m in love with you, too.”

 

Shane smiles widely, eyes crinkling with it. As he swoops down to capture Ryan’s lips with his own he thinks he could stand to be wrong more often if the outcomes were always this breathtaking. 

 

Who needed to be skeptic when he had all he needed to believe in right here, anyways?

 

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, the title is inspired by the Iconic ghoul movie, Sixth Sense. Yes, Ryan's reveal scene was also influenced by the reveal scene to the mom from the same movie. What can I say, its like the only way for him to prove it and im an unimaginative hoe lmao. Also! I deadass just google translated “little star” in Polish bc im 99.999% sure Shanes Polish but if thats not true/thats not how you say it please make sure to let me know, thanks!
> 
> If you enjoyed this lil one-shot please leave a kudos or a comment telling me what you think. Or come over to my bfu side blog @boogariacs and say hi or drop me a prompt! I'm always looking for inspiration!


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